I can’t say I know a lot of marketers who really enjoy spending thousands of dollars on Pay Per Click Google Ads. Actually, I don’t know of any at all. And until recently, I thought of PPC as a necessary evil in order to get new leads in the door.
Some months ago I came across another way of capturing leads. In essence it’s a PPC ad. Except that there is no charge when someone clicks! Too good to be true? Well, to be more accurate, there is a cost involved, but it’s not based on the number of clicks. It’s a one time set-up cost (someone has to pay the programmer!).
Similar to renting a car, you always have to pay something just to rent it, and then there’s the mileage. PPC is having to pay for the mileage on top of all the costs to research the right keywords to use. This other method is like having unlimited mileage for a year.
Which one would you want?
The other method is the use of Call To Action buttons, or CTAs. Here’s how it works:
2. Your blog shows up on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
3. Along the side of the blog is a carefully crafted Call To Action button.
4. The potential lead clicks on the button, which leads to a landing page especially designed to match the message on the button.
5. The landing page’s purpose is collect information or close the sale with minimal distractions normally found on a website (anything that would navigate them away from the sale should be avoided).
By using a blog you are increasing the chances of being found organically. Of course, the explanation above is simplified and there’s a lot more to marketing success than just having a blog. Without an effective marketing plan based on a decent consumer analysis, and really good long tail keyword research, you’ll probably find yourself in a very dark virtual room talking to yourself.
The thing to do is research some market survey companies with proven results to help navigate the consumer’s minds and hearts. Otherwise you risk running blind, which is no way to market any product or service.
Having second thoughts about leaving your PPC campaign behind? Understandable. Keep in mind that blogs we’ve tested with CTA buttons have had a 3-8% conversion rate, compared to our PPC campaigns which runs about 2% conversion rate. Actually the industry average rate for a PPC campaign is about 1%. So don’t think too long! Add CTAs, and reduce your PPC spend.